Mariners, still in playoff chase, visit Rangers again
The Seattle Mariners will try for the series win on Saturday night against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, with a much bigger prize - the final American League wild-card spot - still in view.
The Mariners improved to 9-2 against the Rangers this season with an 8-2 victory in Friday's series opener as Julio Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs and George Kirby allowed two runs on five hits over six innings to improve to 7-0 in nine career starts against Texas (73-81).
Seattle (79-75) trails the Minnesota Twins, who pulled out a much-needed 4-2 victory at Boston in 12 innings on Friday, by two games with eight to go. The Twins currently hold the last of the three wild-card spots in the AL.
The Detroit Tigers, who lost at Baltimore on Friday, are also a game in front of the Mariners while the Kansas City Royals, who have dropped five in a row, are clinging to the second wild-card spot, one game in front of the Twins.
Minnesota holds every possible tiebreaker (multiple ties and head-to-head) with the Tigers, Mariners and Royals.
With every start crucial, Mariners right-hander Emerson Hancock (3-4, 4.83 ERA) will take on future Hall of Fame right-hander Max Scherzer (2-4, 3.95) on Saturday.
Hancock has made one career start against the Rangers, on Sept. 13. He gave up three runs on six hits and a walk in five innings of a 5-4 Seattle win, but he didn't figure into the decision.
Scherzer is 4-2 with a 2.97 ERA in nine career starts against the Mariners. He faced them last Saturday and gave up two runs on five hits and two walks over four innings in a game the Mariners won 5-4 on a Randy Arozarena walk-off single.
Rodriguez has six of his 18 home runs this season against Texas. His three-run blast to left in the fifth inning put the Mariners ahead to stay, 4-2, on Friday, and he added a two-run shot to right in the seventh to extend the lead to 6-2. It was the fourth multi-homer game of his career, while the five RBIs matched his career high.
"Just stay within myself and not get too big," Rodriguez said of his at-bat strategy. "You know I'm a big guy. I don't have to do too much, so I feel like just stay within myself and put a good swing on the ball and make sure I get solid contact on it. That's what I'm focusing on now."
Although they have to make up two games in the standings in the final eight days to have a chance at the postseason, Rodriguez is confident the Mariners can do it.
"I feel we're in a really good spot right now with the way we're pitching and hitting," he said.
The Mariners have two more games against the Rangers and three in Houston before returning home next season to close the season against the Oakland Athletics. The Astros have yet to clinch the American League West but have a five-game lead over the M's.
"You just have to win the games that you can win, and tonight we went out and did what we had to do," Seattle manager Dan Wilson said after Friday's game. "We'll celebrate it for a minute and then regroup and try and do it again tomorrow. This was a good win tonight and a good way to start the road trip. We've got a lot of big games ahead of us."
Texas fell to 3-7 over its past 10 games with its second straight loss, but starter Jacob deGrom, making his first home start since April 28, 2023, after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a bright spot for the defending World Series champions.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner allowed one run - a third-inning leadoff homer to Josh Rojas - on three hits over three innings. He walked one and struck out five while touching 99.4 mph on the radar gun. He threw 58 pitches, 37 for strikes.
"He was good," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. "Good stuff. He's just going to get stronger and stronger and even better with his stuff and command. It's hard to get much better, though. He did a great job."
The outing pleased deGrom.
"All in all my arm felt good, and that's the most important thing," deGrom said. "I was able to throw all four pitches and felt good with them, so that's a huge plus."
